Image courtesy of WiredI don’t normally write about the current events in gaming and when you’re done reading this you’ll probably understand why. The trials and tribulations of [at the time] 3D Realms’ Duke Nukem: Forever has stood as the secret handshake amongst most hardcore gamers and game journalists in-the-know. If you knew about the ill-fated 3D Realms 13-year development struggles of one game, then you were inducted into some sort of nerd ring where complaining about screen-tearing and boob physics are the norm. So, in short, I don’t get it.
When I heard that the big news from PAX was that Duke Nukem: Forever, was the big news at PAX, I smirked. Its not that I don’t care. No wait, it is. Seeing a dated visage of an anti-hero of the mid-90s cast its flat-top shadow over a urinal cake didn’t send me running to my personal blog, Bitmob did. Well them and the this overly gushy outpour of news that really has me looking at the games press media in a weird light. I remember Jason Wilson and Leigh Alexander going back and forth on how the games media ‘behaved’ when Portal 2 was announced at last year’s E3. I thought, is there no room for being a fan? We aren’t covering the president or a crisis in Rwanda.
Image courtesy of JoystiqMaybe its because the news is slow. It is the end of August and beginning of September and as much as I want to read about Valkyria Chronicles 2, I’m sure articles like those don’t carry a lot of sizzle. Maybe there would be if errant hype could be bolstered around a game that people expect good things out of. That’s it isn’t it? For the longest I’ve read and listened to podcasts that treated ‘The Duke’ as a joke, hell I believe I may have joined in. Now it is about a 13-year long gaming masturbatory fantasy coming true.
Count me out. I’m glad that Gearbox employees are employed and are doing what they can with another man’s trash. I hope Duke Nukem: Forever is a good game for the people who still care about that icon. For me, this has given great insight on mainstream games journalism and how the hardcore control the hype. I feel the same today about Duke as I have always felt. “You guys really like this?”